Sciatica Massage Guide

Hey everyone! It is Matt Barber. NASM Certifiedcorrective exercise specialist. Today I am going to be talking about stretches for thelower extremities. Simply, these four stretches are going to show you how you can alleviatelower back pain if you do them on a regular basis. I know many of you out there have lowerback pain. Ok, so the first of the four stretches is a complex of muscles called the hip flexormuscles. They lie here in the front of the thigh up near the hip. One of the main hipflexor muscles, called the psoas, originates directly in the lumbar spine. So if that muscleis tight, and it is tight on most people, then that muscle puts a lot of stress on thelower back region. So, the way we stretch

the hip flexor is, and by the way before Ishow you that, all the stretches I am showing you are standing stretches. For those of youwho struggle getting up and down off the floor the beauty of these four stretches is youcan do them all in a standing position. I am going to show you in another tutorial thatis going to show you how to stretch those same four muscles but in a more of a lyingposition. So, this is good for those of you who again, struggle with getting up and downoff the floor. So the way we stretch the hip flexor is when we load the front leg likethis, I am basically in a lunge position. So I am putting my weight on the forward leg,my left heel stays down, my right heel comes

up off of the floor. It is very importantI am going to tilt my pelvis, called a posterior pelvic tilt. My pelvis is going from hereto here. So if I tilt the front of the pelvis, I am going to lengthen or stretch those hipflexor muscles right there. I am also squeezing my right glute which helps assist in the stretchas well. So if you notice I am next to a sturdy frame here. You can use a chair at home ifyou like whatever is sturdy to help you with your balance. Because sometimes balance canbe tricky on this stretch. This is very beneficial because again to stretch this muscle. I amholding it for thirty seconds on one side. Then thirty seconds on the other. Again, Iam loading the forward leg, I've got the

front of the pelvis out. I am squeezing theleft glute. My belly button is braced toward the spine. Again, I am holding on if I needto for balance. That is called the hip flexors. Thirty seconds to a minute on each side. Nextone is the hamstring complex. Hamstring muscles align right on the back of the thigh. Theway we are stretching that is we prop one foot up, I have one hand on top of the other,I have nice long posture, I am reaching forward so that I feel a stretch right through there.I do not need to round forward like this because it is putting me in a bad posture. I can stillget an effective stretch by staying right here. My shoulder blades are together, I havenice, tall posture and I am still getting

a good stretch back through here. You do notwant the bench to be too high because if it is too high you are more likely to lose yourbalance. Also if it is too high you might get some tension up here in your hips. Wekeep the bench fairly low for the purposes of this stretch. Thirty seconds on one side,then of course thirty seconds on the other side. And if you do struggle with balancea lot, you can hold on to something and stretch to your side like this so you can get a goodstretch. That is ok if you need to modify it. Thirty seconds to a minute on each side.Next one is a muscle called the piriformis is in your gluteal region. Any of you whohave had sciatic issues in the past, then

this muscle is likely tight. A lot of us havetight piriformis muscles. The way I am going to stretch this is in a seated position here.I'm going to place my right ankle across my left thigh like this, take my knee andpull it to the opposite shoulder like this. I am pulling this knee diagonally toward thisshoulder. Nice, tall posture and I am holding this for again, thirty seconds to a minute.I don't want my left foot to turn out of this this is a compensation. You want to keepyour left foot straight ahead as you can see. Again, nice tall posture. Thirty seconds here.And then I switch it again everything aligned, ankle, knee, hip in alignment. And then Igot thirty seconds on this side as well. I

How To Massage Sciatica To Reduce Leg Pain Massage Monday 226

Hi everyone. This is Yasuko and it's timefor Massage Monday. This week I'm going to talk about how to selftreatsciatica or more accurately pseudosciatica using a lacrosse ball or Thera Cane. I oftenhave clients come in with quot;sciaticaquot; issues with a pain shooting down from the hip tothe leg and even numbness in the leg. So what is sciaticaé Sciatica is an inflammation ofsciatic nerve that runs through the hip and down the side of the leg or the back of theleg. The common symptom is the radiating pain from the hip all the way to the leg. Medicallyspeaking it is caused by a pinch of the nerve in the lower back by herniated discs or bonespurs which can be medically treated by a

surgery as a last resort. However, this pain that shoots down the legmay be caused simply by tight gluteal muscles, the muscles in the buttocks, specificallyby the trigger points found in gluteus minimus. Let's call this pseudosciatica because it'snot really sciatica but has the similar pain like the real sciatica and it makes it hardto get up from the chair or stand straight. Trigger Points are the tight spots in musclesthat are stuck in a contracted state and forgot to release. They are sore or painful to touchbut they also cause pain elsewhere called referred pain. This is what I mean. In thiscase, the X's are the trigger points in gluteus

minimus and the red areas are the referredpain. When you loosen these trigger points the pain in the red area will be gone. Thesetrigger points can be created from various reasons such as sitting crooked for a longtime in front of the computer, TV, car, airplane, especially if you keep a wallet in your buttpocket, or from playing sports like tennis, walking, running, swimming, and cycling fora long period of time. To treat the trigger points first find thehip bone. Then go down on the side of the hip to find the greater trochanter which isthe big bump on the top of the thigh bone. The gluteus minimus is located between theselandmarks. It is the deepest layer of the

gluteus muscles. You can also lean side toside and feel the muscles contracting as you lean to the target side. Then put a lacrosseball on the muscle and lean against the wall and roll it over the tight spot for 10 timeswhich should take no more than 20 seconds. You don't want to do it too long because itinvolves some pain and you don't want to bruise the muscle. If you are working on the rightside, stand on your left leg. Or almost lift your right foot to loosen the target muscle.When you massage the muscle should be relaxed and loose so you can dig deeper. As you sawthis muscle gets contracted and tight when you put on your weight on this side. If youhave a pain on the side of the leg, look for

a painful spot more towards the side betweenthe hip bone and thigh bone. If you have a pain in the back of the leg, look for a painfulspot towards the center of the glutes under the hip bone. If lacrosse ball is too hardand painful, you can use a tennis ball. You can also use Thera Cane if you have one.With Thera Cane put the ball on the tip on the gluteus minimus from behind, hold it withboth hands in a comfortable position, lean to the other side, and press on the tightspot for 10 times. BTW if you don't have Thera Cane it's a great selfhealing tool. I'llput the link below. Repeat this treatment three to six times aday every day to see the results. If you tend

to sit in front of the computer for a longtime and if that's causing this problem it's a good way to take a short break because itshouldn't take more than 20 seconds. Remember only do it 10 times at a time. Besides the daily selftreatment I highlyrecommend working with a massage therapist in your area who knows and believes in TriggerPoint Therapy who can treat you and check if you are doing it right. If you have a pain in your body and want tofind out if Trigger Point Therapy can help, let me know and I will cover in the futuretutorials. Holistically speaking I would avoid

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